Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘I Can’t Tell You’: Attorneys, Relatives Struggle To Find Hospitalized ICE Detainees
Some hospitals are registering patients detained by federal immigration officers under pseudonyms and prohibiting staff from contacting family members. Attorneys and health care workers say the practices facilitate rights violations and create ethical concerns. Hospitals say they’re trying to protect patients.
Blurry Line Between Medical and Vision Insurance Leaves Patient With Unexpected Bill
A Wisconsin retiree with glaucoma needed her eyes examined. Her Medicare Advantage plan from UnitedHealthcare listed her optometrist’s clinic as in-network, but she learned the hard way that a clinic can be in-network and out-of-network at the same time.
Enfrentan grandes barreras para localizar a los pacientes, saber cómo están de salud y brindarles apoyo legal y emocional.
What the Health? From KFF Health News: The Hazards of ICE for Public Health
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month. Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
This Teen Never Got His Day in Vaccine Court. His Former Lawyer Now Advises RFK on Its Overhaul.
The federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.
When Suicidal Calls Come In, Who Answers? Georgia Crisis Line Response Rates Reveal Gaps
In Georgia, a high number of callers to the 988 crisis line hang up or disconnect before reaching a counselor. Many other calls are transferred out of state.
Trump Policies at Odds With Emerging Understanding of Covid’s Long-Term Harm
Studies increasingly offer insights into the health risks and burdens faced by people who have had covid infections. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has narrowed covid vaccine recommendations and cut research.
Watch: A Strange Checkup Bill Revealed a Firefighter’s Kids Were Mistakenly Uninsured
This installment of InvestigateTV and KFF Health News’ “Costly Care” series explores how administrative errors can leave patients on the hook for bills they shouldn’t owe — sometimes with few options to correct a problem they didn’t create.
Sick of Fighting Insurers, Hospitals Offer Their Own Medicare Advantage Plans
Breakups between insurers and health systems, on top of plan cuts, left more than 3.7 million Medicare Advantage enrollees facing a tough choice last year: find new insurance or new doctors. But hospital systems say their Advantage plans can avert such upheaval, giving patients peace of mind.
Cansados de pelear con las aseguradoras, hospitales ofrecen sus propios planes Medicare Advantage
Aunque los planes administrados por hospitales representan solo una pequeña porción del mercado de Medicare Advantage, su número de afiliados sigue creciendo, en línea con el aumento general de beneficiarios de ese sistema.
These 3 Policy Moves Are Likely To Change Health Care for Older People
Two Trump administration regulatory rollbacks affect nursing home staffing and home care workers, and a new AI experiment in Medicare has alarmed eldercare advocates and congressional Democrats.
Estas medidas podrían cambiar la calidad de la atención médica de las personas mayores
Después de décadas de lucha y presión, en 2023 la administración Biden abordó el problema crónico de la falta de personal en los centros de cuidado a largo plazo. ahora todo ha cambiado.
Farmers Now Owe a Lot More for Health Insurance
More than a quarter of the agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the individual marketplace, a much larger share than the overall percentage of U.S. adults. After a tough year for farmers, the loss of enhanced ACA subsidies is putting health insurance out of reach for many.
El alto costo del seguro médico pone en jaque a los granjeros
Y ahora, los subsidios mejorados de la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio, en los que muchos agricultores confiaban para comprar cobertura, no han sido renovados.
As US Is Poised To Lose Measles-Free Status, RFK Jr.’s New CDC Deputy Downplays Its Significance
Measles is at a 30-year high in the U.S., but technicalities may stave off the loss of the nation’s measles elimination status.
Medicaid Tries New Approach With Sickle Cell: Companies Get Paid Only if Costly Gene Therapies Work
The government is using sickle cell treatments to test a new strategy: paying only if the therapies benefit patients. With more expensive treatments on the horizon, the program — created by the Biden administration and continued under President Trump — could help Medicaid save money and treat more patients.
Los pagos de Medicaid por el tratamiento de la anemia falciforme dependerán de su éxito
Actualmente hay dos terapias génicas aprobadas por la FDA, con costos de $2,2 millones por paciente en un caso y $3,1 millones en el otro, sin incluir el gasto de la hospitalización prolongada que requieren.
Estados Unidos podría perder su estatus de país libre de sarampión
Esto marca un cambio importante desde que Estados Unidos eliminara el sarampión en el año 2000. Hasta ahora, el virus aparecía de manera esporádica, con personas infectadas en el extranjero, pero rara vez provocaba brotes locales debido a las altas tasas de vacunación.
How Is Your County Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? Our New Tool Follows the Money.
Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.
What the Health? From KFF Health News: Culture Wars Take Center Stage
With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned to culture war issues. Meanwhile, “confusion” remains the watchword at HHS as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” report.